Abstract
As forest owners’motivation for management declines, the expectations and responsibilities placed on logging contractors（LCs）are increasing. The LCs are progressing toward both the“deepening”of their duty of care as harvesting capital, and the“expansion”of their role in forest management. This study examined which behavioral norms should be established for LCs, in response to policy demands. A questionnaire survey was conducted, targeting private timber production entities nationwide（２，８７８ entities）, and it yielded ６０４ valid responses（２１．０％）.Analysis revealed:（１）Four categories were identified on the duty of care,basedonthe“level of care”and“difficulty of implementation”for each operational item, clarifying the level of industry practice.（２）Regarding the expansion of roles in forest management, it was found that over half of the LCs owned their forests and expanded their management areas. There was a clear tendency toward management based on ownership rather than contracting, suggesting a process by which the“deepening”of external duties of care was internalized as ownership-associated responsibility. The behavioral norms LCs should aim for, were summarized as“establishing autonomy as management entities with ownership, based
on a deepened standard of care.”
